Apparatus and methods of hand-in to a femto node

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses are provided for causing active hand-in of a device from a macrocell base station to a femto node, which can be an inter-frequency hand-in. The femto node can broadcast a beacon over an operating frequency of the macrocell base station, and the macrocell base station, and/or one or more network components, can identify the femto node based on one or more parameters reported by the device from receiving the beacon. The beacon can be transmitted at varying powers to ensure active hand-in triggering, mitigate interference and/or can be powered on and off for such purposes. In addition, a macrocell base station can regulate compressed mode periods during which a device can measure the femto node based on receiving information regarding device proximity to the femto node, or a device can generate proximity indication messages base on measuring the beacon signals, etc.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 120

This application is a Divisional Application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/233,810, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS OF HAND-IN TO AFEMTO NODE,” which was filed Sep. 15, 2011, and which is currentlypending. The present Application for Patent claims priority toProvisional Application No. 61/383,715, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODSOF HAND-IN TO A FEMTO NODE” filed Sep. 16, 2010, and ProvisionalApplication No. 61/384,189, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS OF HAND-INTO A FEMTO NODE” filed Sep. 17, 2010, and assigned to the assigneehereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Field

The following description relates generally to wireless networkcommunications, and more particularly to hand-in of devicecommunications among base stations.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as, for example, voice, data, and soon. Typical wireless communication systems may be multiple-accesssystems capable of supporting communication with multiple users bysharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, . .. ). Examples of such multiple-access systems may include code divisionmultiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA)systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonalfrequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like.Additionally, the systems can conform to specifications such as thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE),ultra mobile broadband (UMB), evolution data optimized (EV-DO), etc.

Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems maysimultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Eachmobile device may communicate with one or more base stations viatransmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (ordownlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobiledevices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communicationlink from mobile devices to base stations. Further, communicationsbetween mobile devices and base stations may be established viasingle-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output(MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and soforth. In addition, mobile devices can communicate with other mobiledevices (and/or base stations with other base stations) in peer-to-peerwireless network configurations.

To supplement conventional base stations, additional restricted basestations can be deployed to provide more robust wireless coverage tomobile devices. For example, wireless relay stations and low power basestations (e.g., which can be commonly referred to as Home NodeBs or HomeeNBs, collectively referred to as H(e)NBs, femto nodes, pico nodes,etc.) can be deployed for incremental capacity growth, richer userexperience, in-building or other specific geographic coverage, and/orthe like. In some configurations, such low power base stations can beconnected to the Internet via broadband connection (e.g., digitalsubscriber line (DSL) router, cable or other modem, etc.), which canprovide the backhaul link to the mobile operator's network. Thus, forexample, the low power base stations can be deployed in user homes toprovide mobile network access to one or more devices via the broadbandconnection.

For example, such low power base stations can support hand-in of adevice to/from a conventional base station (e.g., a macrocell basestation). In one example, this can include active mode hand-in of adevice on an active call. Such hand-in can be encumbered by somechallenges. For example, in triggering of active hand-in, especiallyinter-frequency hand-in, there may not be a reliable trigger to initiatehand-in of the device to a low power base station. In another example,disambiguation of low power base stations can be an issue since a numberof available identifiers for the base stations in a particular cell maybe less than the number of base stations in the cell. Thus, theidentifier alone may not be sufficient to uniquely identify a low powerbase station that is target of a hand-in attempt.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding disclosurethereof, various aspects are described in connection with generating abeacon signal at a low power base station, such as a femto node, toinitiate active hand-in of a device to the low power base station. Inone example, the femto node can broadcast the beacon signal in afrequency utilized by macrocell base stations so the device can detectthe beacon signal. Accordingly, a device can report parameters of thefemto node to a macrocell base station, and the macrocell base stationcan attempt to identify the femto node with or without assistance fromthe femto node, a gateway related to one or more femto nodes, and/or thelike. Moreover, for example, the beacon signal can emulate beaconsignals or other downlink transmissions used by macrocell base stations,and can thus include similar channels or other formatting parameters tofacilitate detection by the devices. In addition, other parameters ofthe beacon signal can be managed to disambiguate beacons of various basestations, to mitigate interference caused by the beacon signal, and/orthe like. Further, device considerations, such as parameters related tooperating in compressed mode to measure other parameters of the femtonode, can be managed to conserve resources at the device.

According to an example, a method for communicating a beacon for activehand-in is provided. The method includes transmitting a pilot signalover a femto node operating frequency and generating a beacon tofacilitate active hand-in of one or more devices communicating with oneor more macrocell base stations. The method further includesbroadcasting the beacon over a macrocell operating frequency of the oneor more macrocell base stations different from the femto node operatingfrequency.

In another aspect, an apparatus for communicating a beacon for activehand-in is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processorconfigured to transmit a pilot signal over a femto node operatingfrequency and generate a beacon to facilitate active hand-in of one ormore devices communicating with one or more macrocell base stations. Theat least one processor is further configured to broadcast the beaconover a macrocell operating frequency of the one or more macrocell basestations different from the femto node operating frequency. Theapparatus also includes a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus for communicating a beacon foractive hand-in is provided that includes means for transmitting a pilotsignal over a femto node operating frequency. The apparatus furtherincludes means for generating a beacon to facilitate active hand-in ofone or more devices communicating with one or more macrocell basestations, wherein the means for transmitting broadcasts the beacon overa macrocell operating frequency of the one or more macrocell basestations different from the femto node operating frequency.

Still, in another aspect, a computer-program product for communicating abeacon for active hand-in is provided including a computer-readablemedium having code for causing at least one computer to transmit a pilotsignal over a femto node operating frequency and code for causing the atleast one computer to generate a beacon to facilitate active hand-in ofone or more devices communicating with one or more macrocell basestations. The computer-readable medium further includes code for causingthe at least one computer to broadcast the beacon over a macrocelloperating frequency of the one or more macrocell base stations differentfrom the femto node operating frequency.

Moreover, in an aspect, an apparatus for communicating a beacon foractive hand-in is provided that includes a communications component fortransmitting a pilot signal over a femto node operating frequency. Theapparatus further includes a beacon generating component for generatinga beacon to facilitate active hand-in of one or more devicescommunicating with one or more macrocell base stations, wherein thecommunications component broadcasts the beacon over a macrocelloperating frequency of the one or more macrocell base stations differentfrom the femto node operating frequency.

In another example, a method for identifying a femto node in a handoverrequest is provided. The method includes receiving a handover requestmessage comprising a primary scrambling code (PSC) utilized by a femtonode to broadcast a beacon on a macrocell operating frequency anddetermining the femto node based in part on the PSC. The method furtherincludes communicating the handover request message to the femto node.

In another aspect, an apparatus for identifying a femto node in ahandover request is provided. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor configured to receive a handover request message comprising aPSC utilized by a femto node to broadcast a beacon on a macrocelloperating frequency. The at least one processor is further configured todetermine the femto node based in part on the PSC and communicate thehandover request message to the femto node. The apparatus also includesa memory coupled to the at least one processor.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus for identifying a femto node in ahandover request is provided that includes means for receiving ahandover request message comprising a PSC utilized by a femto node tobroadcast a beacon on a macrocell operating frequency. The apparatusfurther includes means for determining the femto node based in part onthe PSC, wherein the means for receiving the handover request messagecommunicates the handover request message to the femto node.

Still, in another aspect, a computer-program product for identifying afemto node in a handover request is provided including acomputer-readable medium having code for causing at least one computerto receive a handover request message comprising a PSC utilized by afemto node to broadcast a beacon on a macrocell operating frequency. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the at leastone computer to determine the femto node based in part on the PSC andcode for causing the at least one computer to communicate the handoverrequest message to the femto node.

Moreover, in an aspect, an apparatus for identifying a femto node in ahandover request is provided that includes a hand-in component forreceiving a handover request message comprising a PSC utilized by afemto node to broadcast a beacon on a macrocell operating frequency. Theapparatus further includes a femto node disambiguating component fordetermining the femto node based in part on the PSC, wherein the hand-incomponent communicates the handover request message to the femto node.

Additionally, for example, a method for proximity indication isprovided. The method includes receiving a beacon from a femto nodecomprising a closed subscriber group (CSG) identifier at a device anddetermining whether the device is a member of the femto node based inpart on the CSG identifier. The method further includes indicatingentering a proximity to the femto node to a radio network controller(RNC) based at least in part on the determining and a measurement of thebeacon.

In another aspect, an apparatus for proximity indication is provided.The apparatus includes at least one processor configured to receive abeacon from a femto node comprising a CSG identifier and determinewhether the apparatus is a member of the femto node based in part on theCSG identifier. The at least one processor is further configured toindicate entering a proximity to the femto node to a RNC based at leastin part on the determining and a measurement of the beacon. Theapparatus also includes a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus for proximity indication is providedthat includes means for receiving a beacon from a femto node comprisinga CSG identifier and means for determining whether the apparatus is amember of the femto node based in part on the CSG identifier andperforming a measurement of the beacon. The apparatus further includesmeans for indicating entering a proximity to the femto node to a RNCbased at least in part on the determining and the measurement of thebeacon.

Still, in another aspect, a computer-program product for proximityindication is provided including a computer-readable medium having codefor causing at least one computer to receive a beacon from a femto nodecomprising a CSG identifier at a device and code for causing the atleast one computer to determine whether the device is a member of thefemto node based in part on the CSG identifier. The computer-readablemedium further includes code for causing the at least one computer toindicate entering a proximity to the femto node to a RNC based at leastin part on the determining and a measurement of the beacon.

Moreover, in an aspect, an apparatus for proximity indication isprovided that includes a communications component for receiving a beaconfrom a femto node comprising a CSG identifier and a proximitydetermining component for determining whether the apparatus is a memberof the femto node based in part on the CSG identifier and performing ameasurement of the beacon. The apparatus further includes a parametercommunicating component for indicating entering a proximity to the femtonode to a RNC based at least in part on the determining and themeasurement of the beacon.

In another example, a method for configuring measurement of anotherfrequency for a device is provided. The method includes receiving ameasurement report from a device comprising an identifier of a CSG andan indication that the device is a member of the CSG and configuring oneor more measurement configuration parameters for the device based atleast in part on the indication.

In another aspect, an apparatus for configuring measurement of anotherfrequency for a device is provided. The apparatus includes at least oneprocessor configured to receive a measurement report from a devicecomprising an identifier of a CSG and an indication that the device is amember of the CSG. The at least one processor is further configured toconfigure one or more measurement configuration parameters for thedevice based at least in part on the indication. The apparatus alsoincludes a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus for configuring measurement ofanother frequency for a device is provided that includes means forreceiving a measurement report from a device comprising an identifier ofa CSG and an indication that the device is a member of the CSG and meansfor configuring one or more measurement configuration parameters for thedevice based at least in part on the indication.

Still, in another aspect, a computer-program product for configuringmeasurement of another frequency for a device is provided including acomputer-readable medium having code for causing at least one computerto receive a measurement report from a device comprising an identifierof a CSG and an indication that the device is a member of the CSG. Thecomputer-readable medium further includes code for causing the at leastone computer to configure one or more measurement configurationparameters for the device based at least in part on the indication.

Moreover, in an aspect, an apparatus for configuring measurement ofanother frequency for a device is provided that includes a proximityreceiving component for receiving a measurement report from a devicecomprising an identifier of a CSG and an indication that the device is amember of the CSG. The apparatus further includes a hand-in componentfor configuring one or more measurement configuration parameters for thedevice based at least in part on the indication.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed aspects will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe appended drawings, provided to illustrate and not to limit thedisclosed aspects, wherein like designations denote like elements, andin which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for communicating abeacon to cause inter-frequency active hand-in for a device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example system for generating andtransmitting a beacon over a macrocell frequency.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example system for handing-in to a femtonode.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example system for determining a femtonode to which to transmit a handover request message.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example system for disambiguating afemto node to receive a handover request message.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example system for facilitating activehand-in of a device to a femto node for which a measured beacon isreported.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology forgenerating a beacon for transmitting for a femto node over a macrocelloperating frequency.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology fordetermining whether to modify broadcasting a beacon.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology thatcommunicates handover request messages to one or more femto nodes.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology thatindicates proximity to a femto node.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an aspect of an example methodology thatconfigures measurement configuration parameters for a device based on aproximity to a femto node.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example system that generates a beaconfor transmitting for a femto node over a macrocell operating frequency.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example system that communicateshandover request messages to one or more femto nodes.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example system that indicates proximityto a femto node.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example system that configuresmeasurement configuration parameters for a device based on a proximityto a femto node.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an example wireless communication systemin accordance with various aspects set forth herein.

FIG. 17 is an illustration of an example wireless network environmentthat can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and methodsdescribed herein.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example wireless communication system, configuredto support a number of devices, in which the aspects herein can beimplemented.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of an exemplary communication system toenable deployment of femtocells within a network environment.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a coverage map having several definedtracking areas.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings. In thefollowing description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofone or more aspects. It may be evident, however, that such aspect(s) maybe practiced without these specific details.

As described further herein, various aspects are presented relating togenerating, at a femto node, a beacon that is operable to initiate ahand-in of a device from a macrocell base station. Though described inrelation to femto nodes, it is to be appreciated that the conceptsherein can be utilized in conjunction with substantially any low powerbase station, such as a H(e)NB, picocell or microcell nodes, a relaynode, etc. In addition, though active mode hand-in is contemplated,additional terms, such as handover, can be utilized herein, and bothterms are meant to generally include substantially any hand-in orhandover mechanisms in wireless communications. The femto node, in oneexample, broadcasts the beacon on a given frequency associated with thenetwork of a macrocell base station to assist or initiate hand-in of thedevice. Further, in an aspect, the network can configure the device togenerate a reporting message when the device detects the beacon, and themacrocell base station or corresponding network can use information inthe reporting message, or in subsequent network-requested reportingmessages, to trigger hand-in of the device to the femto node. Thus, thebeacon of the described apparatus and methods enables the device toacquire the pilot signal of the femto node and hand-in the device orrelated communications (e.g., such as an active call thereof) to thefemto node.

For example, in some aspects, the beacon can trigger the device (e.g.,and the macrocell base station or corresponding network) to performhand-in of the device to the inter-frequency femto node. In otheraspects, for example, the beacon can trigger the device to report aproximity indication to assist in determining a femto node related tothe beacon. In another aspect, for example, the beacon can causeinterference to one or more devices, which can cause the network toconfigure the device to perform measurement reporting. In this case, thenetwork can provide the device with information to help the devicerecognize a femtocell access point or related beacon, such as ranges forcorresponding primary scrambling codes (PSC), so that measurements ofthe beacon can be reported back to the network. Such measurementreporting can include additional information to aid in handoverprocessing.

Additionally, in further aspects, the described apparatus and methodscan enable disambiguation of the femto nodes. For example, in an aspect,the network can use information in the reporting message (e.g., obtainedfrom the beacon), such as a target cell identifier, to uniquely identifythe target femto node. Additionally or alternatively, the network canprovide information to the femto node or a related gateway to facilitateidentifying the femto node, such as one or more PSCs, a device identity,a measurement report received from the device or one or more parametersthereof, etc.

In addition, many aspects of the beacon can be configured as describedherein, such as an initial, maximum, or current power for transmittingthe beacon, a time period for transmitting the beacon, etc., to managepotential interference of the beacon caused to one or more base stationsor devices communicating therewith. Moreover, aspects of devicesmeasuring femto nodes transmitting the beacon can be managed, such ascompressed mode periods during which the devices can switch to anoperating frequency of a femto node to perform and report measurementson the operating frequency. For example, a device can indicate proximityto a femto node, and a serving base station can accordingly schedulecompressed mode while the device is within the proximity to conserveradio resources at the device.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system”and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, such asbut not limited to hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a computing device and the computing device can be a component. Oneor more components can reside within a process and/or thread ofexecution and a component may be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. In addition, these componentscan execute from various computer readable media having various datastructures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way oflocal and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal havingone or more data packets, such as data from one component interactingwith another component in a local system, distributed system, and/oracross a network such as the Internet with other systems by way of thesignal.

Furthermore, various aspects are described herein in connection with aterminal, which can be a wired terminal or a wireless terminal. Aterminal can also be called a system, device, subscriber unit,subscriber station, mobile station, mobile, mobile device, remotestation, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, terminal,communication device, user agent, user device, or user equipment (UE). Awireless terminal may be a cellular telephone, a satellite phone, acordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, awireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), ahandheld device having wireless connection capability, a computingdevice, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem.Moreover, various aspects are described herein in connection with a basestation. A base station may be utilized for communicating with wirelessterminal(s) and may also be referred to as an access point, a Node B,evolved Node B (eNB), H(e)NB, or some other terminology.

Moreover, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom the context, the phrase “X employs A or B” is intended to mean anyof the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase “X employs Aor B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, the articles “a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims shouldgenerally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwiseor clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and othersystems. The terms “system” and “network” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. Further, cdma2000covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA system may implementa radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM). An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as EvolvedUTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are partof Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which employsOFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTEand GSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project” (3GPP). Additionally, cdma2000 and UMBare described in documents from an organization named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Further, such wireless communicationsystems may additionally include peer-to-peer (e.g., mobile-to-mobile)ad hoc network systems often using unpaired unlicensed spectrums, 802.xxwireless LAN, BLUETOOTH and any other short- or long-range, wirelesscommunication techniques.

Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems thatmay include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. Itis to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may includeadditional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include allof the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection withthe figures. A combination of these approaches may also be used.

Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless communication system 100 forbeacon-driven active hand-in is illustrated. System 100 includes a femtonode 102 that transmits a beacon 104 on a macro network frequency,F_(B). System 100 also includes a device 106, which can be engaged in anactive call 108 with a radio network controller (RNC) 120 via amacrocell base station 110 and can detect beacon 104. In an example,device 106 can thus initiate a hand-in 112 of device 106 communications(e.g., including active call 108) to femto node 102. In particular, upondetecting beacon 104, device 106 can generate a reporting message 114that triggers communication of handover request messages 116 and 118through one or more network nodes, such as RNC 120, the core network(CN) 122 (e.g., which can represent one or more nodes of a core wirelessnetwork, such as gateways, mobility management entities, supportingnodes, etc.), and a femto gateway 124 via communication links 126, 128,130 and 132, to the femto node 102. In response, for example, femto node102 generates a handover command message 134 that can be communicatedback through the network and received by device 106.

The handover command message 134 enables device 106 to hand-incommunications (e.g., including active call 108) to femto node 102. Forexample, the communications, including active call 108, can be carriedon a femto node pilot frequency, F_(H) 136. For example, femto nodepilot frequency, F_(H), which can be an operating frequency of the femtonode 102, can be a different frequency than macro network frequency,F_(B), used for transmitting beacon 104. Thus, beacon 104 transmitted byfemto node 102 drives the hand-in 112 of communications from themacrocell base station 110 to femto node 102, even where femto node 102operates on different frequency than the macrocell base station 110.

In one example, femto node 102 can generate beacon 104 to be similar toa beacon transmitted by macrocell base station 110 or other basestations related to CN 122. Thus, for example, the beacon 104 caninclude various channels utilized by beacons of base stationsparticipating in CN 122. In another example, femto node 102 can controlpower of the beacon 104 to avoid interfering communications of one ormore other devices to macrocell base station 110 and/or other femtocellor macrocell base stations. For instance, femto node 102 can attempt todetect such interference caused by beacon 104 and/or can receive anindication of such interference for determining a power to utilize tomitigate the interference.

It should be noted that in some aspects, after reception of message 114from the device 106, RNC 120 can request that device 106 reportadditional parameters regarding the femto node 102 or correspondingbeacon 104 by communicating one or more messages 138 thereto. Device 106may then generate one or more additional reporting messages 140 toreport the requested information. In one example, device 106 can acquirethe additional parameters from the beacon 104 and/or by receiving othersignals over an operating frequency of femto node 102. Thus, in oneexample, the RNC 120 can schedule compressed mode for the device 106 tomeasure signals from femto node 102. In one example, device 106 canindicate a proximity to femto node 102 to the RNC 120, which can causethe RNC 120 to schedule the compressed mode. For example, device 106 canindicate the proximity explicitly via a proximity message, implicitlyvia a measurement report message the RNC 120 interprets as proximity,etc.

In system 100, the information from message 114 and/or message(s) 140can be used to enable identification of the proper femto node 102detected by device 106 to continue the hand-in. For example, thedisambiguation can be performed by the RNC 120, CN 122 femto gateway124, and/or other components. As discussed further herein, suchdisambiguation enables a femto node 102 corresponding to the beacon 104to be identified in areas or cells where re-use of femto node or beaconidentifiers occur.

Referring to FIG. 2, a wireless communication system 200 is illustratedfor causing a device to perform active hand-in to a femto node. System200 includes a femto node 102 that can communicate one or more beacons104 for causing one or more devices, such as device 106 to hand-incommunications to the femto node 102. Device 106 can communicate withmacrocell base station 110 that provides access to a CN 122 (e.g., viaRNC 120). System 200 can also optionally include a femto gateway 124that manages one or more parameters of the femto node 102 and one ormore other femto nodes (not shown). Femto node 102 can include aprocessor 202 for carrying out processing associated with one or more ofcomponents or functions described herein. Processor 202 can include asingle or multiple set of processors or multi-core processors. Moreover,processor 202 can be implemented as an integrated processing systemand/or a distributed processing system.

Femto node 102 can further include a memory 204, such as for storinglocal applications being executed by processor 202, instructionsthereof, instructions for performing one or more functions describedherein, and/or the like. Memory 204 can include any type of memoryusable by a computer, such as random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory,non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof.

Further, femto node 102 can include a communications component 206 thatprovides for establishing and maintaining communications with one ormore other components of system 200, such as femto gateway 124, CN 122(e.g., via femto gateway 124), and/or the like for example, utilizinghardware, software, and services as described herein. Communicationscomponent 206 can carry communications between components on femto node102, as well as between femto node 102 and external devices, such asdevices located across a communications network (e.g., on or morecomponents of CN 122, device 106, etc.) and/or devices serially orlocally connected to femto node 102. For example, communicationscomponent 206 can include one or more buses, and may further includetransmit chain components and receive chain components, respectivelyincluding one or more transmitters and receivers, or transceivers,operable for interfacing with external devices, such as device 106.

Additionally, femto node 102 can further include a data store 208, whichcan be any suitable combination of hardware and/or software, thatprovides for mass storage of information, databases, and programsemployed in connection with aspects described herein. For example, datastore 208 may be a data repository for applications not currently beingexecuted by processor 202.

Femto node 102 can optionally include a user interface component 210operable to receive inputs from a user of femto node 102, and furtheroperable to generate outputs for presentation to the user. Userinterface component 210 can include one or more input devices, includingbut not limited to a keyboard, a number pad, a mouse, a touch-sensitivedisplay, a navigation key, a function key, a microphone, a voicerecognition component, any other mechanism capable of receiving an inputfrom a user, or any combination thereof. Further, user interfacecomponent 210 can include one or more output devices, including but notlimited to a display, a speaker, a haptic feedback mechanism, a printer,any other mechanism capable of presenting an output to a user, or anycombination thereof.

Additionally, femto node 102 can include a beacon generating component212 for generating one or more beacons 104, and a handover managementcomponent 214 for performing active hand-in of a device to femto node102. Femto node 102 can also optionally include a beacon powerdetermining component 216 for determining and/or adjusting power fortransmission of the one or more beacons 104.

According to an example, beacon generating component 212 can create abeacon 104, which can emulate downlink transmissions by base stations ofCN 122 (e.g., femto node's 102 transmissions over another carrier, suchas the operating frequency of femto node 102), and communicationscomponent 206 can transmit the beacon 104 over a frequency utilized bymacrocell base stations in the CN 122 to cause active hand-in by device106 or other devices. For example, beacon generating component 212 caninclude a pilot channel (e.g., a common pilot indicator channel (CPICH)in wideband CDMA (WCDMA)), a synchronization channel (e.g., a primarysynchronization channel (PSCH), secondary synchronization channel(SSCH), etc., in WCDMA), a control channel (e.g., primary common controlphysical channel (P-CCPCH) in WCDMA), and/or the like within beacon 104to emulate the macrocell base station 110 or similar beacons. Inaddition, the operating frequency of the macrocell base station 110 canbe different from the operating frequency of femto node 102, and thusthe beacon 104 transmitted on the operating frequency of macrocell basestation 110 can cause an inter-frequency hand-in of device 106 served bymacrocell base station 110.

Device 106 can receive beacon 104 over the macrocell base stationfrequency (e.g., while communicating with a macrocell base station 110),and can report one or more parameters regarding the beacon to RNC 120 ina measurement report. RNC 120, femto gateway 124, and/or one or morecomponents of CN 122, can identify the femto node 102, as describedfurther herein, and cause device 106 to hand-in thereto based on themeasurement report. For example, handover management component 214 canobtain a handover message from RNC 120 (e.g., via CN 122 and/or femtogateway 124) that provides information related to handing-in device 106.This can be a radio access network application part (RANAP) relocationrequest message or similar message. Handover management component 214can accordingly construct a radio resource control (RRC) handovercommand to configure device 106 to communicate with femto node 102. Forexample, this can include configuring the device 106 on the operatingfrequency of femto node 102 with the corresponding PSC for receivingsignal from femto node 102, communicating the command to the device 106(e.g., via femto gateway 124, CN 122, and/or RNC 120). RNC 120 canaccordingly configure the device for handover to femto node 102 viamacrocell base station 110.

In specific examples, beacon generating component 212 can broadcast thebeacon 104 with a CPICH, which can include another PSC from one or moreclosed subscriber group (CSG) lists on the frequency of the macrocellbase station 110. For example, the femto node 102 can implementrestricted association such to allow access to certain devices and/orvarying levels of access to certain devices, as described furtherherein. Beacon generating component 212 can advertise a CSG identifierbased on the another PSC utilized to scramble a pilot in the CPICH ofthe beacon 104. The PSC of the beacon 104 can be different or the sameas a PSC used by femto node 102 to communicate on an operating frequencythereof (e.g., as indicated in pilot signals over the operatingfrequency). In this example, device 106 can identify the CSG based onthe PSC used for beacon 104 (and/or the PSC used on the operatingfrequency where device 106 is able to measure pilot signals on theoperating frequency), and/or can include such an identity or the PSC(s)in the measurement report to macrocell base station 110.

For example, the PSC generated in the beacon 104 by femto node 102 andthe PSC used by femto node 102 over its operating frequency can be thesame or different PSC. In an example, a mapping of the PSC(s) to cellidentifier can be stored in RNC 120, CN 122, femto gateway 124, etc., tofacilitate at least partially identifying femto node 102 based on one ormore of the PSCs. In one example, there can be a one-to-one mapping ofPSC of beacon 104 to that of the femto node 102 over the operatingfrequency, a many-to-one mapping, a one-to-many mapping, etc., each ofwhich can be associated with a cell identity of a femto node 102. Thus,in one example, the PSC for beacon 104 can be assigned (e.g., by femtogateway 124 or CN 122) to create a unique combination of beacon 104 PSCto femto node operating frequency PSC for including in the mapping tosubsequently identify femto gateway 124 based on the reported PSCs.

In another specific example, beacon generating component 212 can includea P-CCPCH in the beacon 104 that can provide one or more systeminformation blocks (SIB), master information blocks (MIB), which caninclude a CSG identifier, cell identifier, etc., which device 106 canutilize to report an identity related to femto node 102 in themeasurement report. For example, the reported identifier can be the CSGidentifier, cell identifier, etc., and/or an identifier determined basedin part on the CSG identifier, cell identifier, etc.

In another example, beacon generating component 212 can control relativepower levels of the individual channels (e.g., CPICH, PSCH/SSCH,P-CCPCH, etc.) within beacon 104. For example, beacon generatingcomponent 212 can increase power of the P-CCPCH to minimize timerequired for device 106 to receive system information. In any case, forexample, upon receiving a measurement report from device 106 (e.g., viamacrocell base station 110), RNC 120 can at least one of cause device106 to hand-in to femto node 102, configure measurement configurationparameters (e.g., compressed mode parameters) for the device 106 tomeasure femto node 102 on the operating frequency thereof, and/or thelike. Thus, where RNC 120 determines to hand-in device 106, RNC 120 cancommunicate one or more messages to femto node 102 to prepare forhand-in. Handover management component 214 can receive such messagesfrom RNC 120 (e.g., via one or more components of CN 122, femto gateway124, and/or the like), and can prepare for hand-in of device 106, asdescribed further herein. In addition, in an example, where RNC 120 isunaware of an operating frequency of femto node 102 or one or moreparameters thereof, handover management component 214 can communicatethe operating frequency of femto node 102 (e.g., and/or the PSC usedover the operating frequency) to RNC 120 to allow RNC 120 to prepare thedevice to hand-in to femto node 102.

Moreover, in an example, beacon generating component 212 can create thebeacon as interference to device 106. In this example, RNC 120 canconfigure device 106 to generate a measurement report when signalquality of the macrocell base station 110 drops below a threshold level(e.g., similar to event 1 f, 2 b, 2 d, etc. in WCDMA). When generationof the measurement report is triggered, device 106 reports, based onconfiguration of such measurement by RNC 120, a PSC of femto node 102 orof related beacon 104, as described, as well as additional information,such as chip-level timing information, layer-2 (e.g., media accesscontrol (MAC) layer) information like system frame number (SFN)-cellframe number (CFN), cell identity, CSG identity, other restrictedassociation membership information, etc. For example, such informationcan assist in disambiguating the beacon 104 from that of other femtonodes and/or in determining access rights of the device 106 to the femtonode 102.

Furthermore, beacon power determining component 216 can select atransmit power that communications component 206 can use to transmit thebeacon 104 in an effort to mitigate interference to one or more devices.For example, beacon power determining component 216 can determine thepower based on a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) detected onan uplink carrier before and/or during transmission of beacon 104. Forexample, beacon power determining component 216 can obtain the RSSIbased on uplink signals received by communications component 206. Inaddition, beacon power determining component 216 can utilize one or moreRSSI measurements to detect presence of a device, such as device 106.For example, where the RSSI is over a threshold level and/or a change inthe RSSI over a period of time is at least a threshold, beacon powerdetermining component 216 can determine that a device 106 is present.Beacon power determining component 216 can use the detected presence ofthe device 106 and/or the RSSI level to turn the beacon on or off,and/or to adjust power for transmitting the beacon 104.

In addition, beacon power determining component 216 can determine thethreshold RSSI and/or threshold changes in RSSI based at least in parton one or more parameters relating to the macrocell base station 110(and/or other base stations) to mitigate interference thereto. Forexample, beacon power determining component 216 can obtain at least oneof a pathloss to macrocell base station 110, a noise rise at macrocellbase station 110, a maximum downlink pilot channel power allowed atmacrocell base station 110, a uplink signal-to-interference ratio (SIR)target for device 106 at macrocell base station 110, etc. Based on atleast one of the foregoing, in this example, beacon power determiningcomponent 216 can set a RSSI threshold and/or a threshold for a changein RSSI over a period of time relate to adjusting the beacon 104 orturning the beacon 104 on/off to mitigate interference to macrocell basestation 110 that may be caused by beacon 104.

Additionally, beacon power determining component 216 can set transmitpower of beacon 104 based on one or more other parameters. For example,beacon power determining component 216 can set transmit power based onthresholds or other events configured at macrocell base station 110,such as event 1 a, hysteresis, and event 2 d for inter-frequencymeasurements in a specific WCDMA configuration. In another example,beacon power determining component 216 can determine the transmit powerbased at least in part on a cell individual offset (CIO) correspondingto the beacon 104. For example, beacon power determining component 216can obtain such parameters from at least one of a measurementconfiguration at the RNC 120 included in RANAP hand-in or othermessaging, a configuration received by one or more components of CN 122(e.g., an operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM) server,etc.), a backhaul link to macrocell base station 110, communicationswith one or more devices or other over-the-air (OTA) connection, and/orthe like. Moreover, beacon power determining component 216 can set atransmit power based on a type of signal detected from device 106 or oneor more other devices.

In another example, beacon power determining component 216 can utilizecommunications component 206 to measure RSSI on multiple carriers. Inthis example, beacon power determining component 216 can sense device106 presence at least in part by detecting a decrease in RSSI over onecarrier and a corresponding increase in RSSI over another carrier, whichcan indicate inter-frequency hand-in of device 106. If the handover isdetected to a carrier related to beacon 104 (e.g., RSSI of the carrierincreases over a threshold level), beacon power determining component216 can accordingly turn off and/or reduce power of beacon 104 on thatcarrier.

In yet another example, beacon power determining component 216 can turnon the beacon 104 and/or select a corresponding transmit power based ondetecting presence of device 106. Thus, using one or more sensingmechanisms (e.g., as described above or otherwise), beacon powerdetermining component 216 can detect presence of a device, and canaccordingly set the transmit power for beacon 104 as a function of anRSSI, a measured change in RSSI over a period of time, etc. In oneexample, handover management component 214 can determine whether thedevice 106 is a member of a CSG related to femto node 102, and if not,beacon power determining component 216 can turn off or reduce the powerof the beacon 104. In one example, handover management component 214 candetermine such by attempting to authenticate the device 106 based on areceived handover request from RNC 120. In another example, handovermanagement component 214 can determine such based on not receiving ahandover request message from RNC 120 after a period of time fromdetecting RSSI or change in RSSI at a threshold. For example, this canindicate that the sensed device 106 is in range of femto node 102 andreceiving the beacon 104, but not attempting to hand-in to femto node102 (e.g., because device 106 determined that it is not in the CSG).

In one example, uplink transmit power at device 106 for a voice call canbe lower than that of a packet switched (PS) call or high speed uplinkpacket access (HSUPA) call, and thus can result in a lower RSSIincrease. Thus, a given increase in RSSI detected by beacon powerdetermining component 216 can be caused by a device in a voice call thatis close to the femto node 102, or a PS/HSUPA call from a device that isfarther away from femto node 102. In this example, beacon powerdetermining component 216 can reduce power of beacon 104 by a relativelysmall amount such that an approaching device 106 can trigger activehand-in when at a threshold distance from femto node 102. In oneexample, this can result in inter-frequency hand-in attempt to anothernon-femto carrier by device, but can alternatively result in an activehand-in attempt by device 106 to femto node 102.

Beacon power determining component 216 can set the beacon 104 power inan attempt to at least one of mitigate interference caused by the beacon104, maintain quality of the beacon 104, create conditions fortriggering events at device 106, such as event 1 a in WCDMA, or otherhand-in events. Additionally, beacon power determining component 216 canconfigure a maximum power for beacon 104, which can be based on at leastone of maintaining a desired signal strength of the beacon 104 to acertain level at a desired distance or desired pathloss. For example,beacon power determining component 216 can determine such according toparameters of nearby base stations—e.g., by measuring signal strength ofnearby base stations, such as macrocell base station 110, using anetwork listening module (NLM), by receiving SIB parameters therefrom,and/or the like. In this regard, beacon power determining component 216can determine different transmit powers for beacon 104 where femto node102 is located at different positions with respect to macrocell basestation 110 (e.g., such as at cell edge or cell site).

Though described in terms of sensing a device 106 based on uplink powermeasurements, it is to be appreciated that beacon power determiningcomponent 216 can also detect presence of a device 106 based onreceiving a RANAP relocation required message therefor. In addition, inone example, upon receiving a handover message from femto gateway 124 orRNC 120 (e.g., via CN 122), handover management component 214 candetermine whether femto node 102 is a candidate for hand-in of device106. For example, this can be based in part on pathloss to macrocellbase station 110 and/or device 106, a received location of device 106(e.g., as compared to a location of femto node 102), one or morereported PSCs, measuring an RSSI to determine a presence of one or moredevices (e.g., as compared to a previous RSSI or otherwise) and/or thelike. In another example, determining whether femto node 102 is acandidate can be based at least in part on comparing one or more signalmeasurements, timing measurements or differences between that of aserving macrocell base station, timing offsets, etc. measured andreported by device 106 to known information of femto node 102, asdescribed further herein. For example, beacon power determiningcomponent 216 can compare a reported RS SI to coverage information forfemto node 102 to determine if a reported change in RSSI for a giventime period is caused from the beacon 104 or other signals transmittedby femto node 102. If so, the handover management component 214 canaccept the hand-in, and if not, the handover management component 214can reject or otherwise deny the hand-in (e.g., via a rejection message,such as RANAP relocation failure message). This allows femto gateway124, RNC 120, etc., to further disambiguate the femto node reported bydevice 106, as described herein.

Though described above with respect to a beacon 104 transmitted over anoperating frequency of macrocell base station 110, it is to beappreciated that communications component 206 can transmit beacon 104and/or other beacons over additional frequencies, which can correspondto operating frequencies of other base stations associated with CN 122.Communications component 206 can perform frequency hopping of the beacon104 to hop the beacon 104 over different frequencies in different timeperiods. In this example, beacon power determining component 216 canalso perform uplink sensing of devices over the multiple operatingfrequencies according to aspects described above. In one example, beacongenerating component 212 can generate the beacon to cycle throughfrequencies in given time periods. For example, the cycle can be basedat least in part on the uplink sensing performed by beacon powerdetermining component 216, such that a frequency carrier with a low RSSIor other measurement can be selected for the beacon to mitigateinterference caused to other devices. In another example, beacongenerating component 212 can select a frequency carrier where anincrease of RSSI is observed for the beacon, so as to trigger hand-infor a device causing the increase in RSSI on that carrier. In addition,transmission of beacon 104 can be performed periodically oraperiodically, according to one or more configurations, etc.

In addition, femto node 102 can transmit a pilot signal on its operatingfrequency as well, and device 106 can tune to the operating frequency offemto node 102 to additionally receive the pilot signal during one ormore time periods, as described further below. In one example,communications component 206 can transmit the pilot signal using adifferent PSC than for beacon 104, using a different transmit power,and/or the like. In one example, a combination of the PSC of the beacon104 and the PSC used for the pilot can be used to disambiguate femtonode 102 from other femto nodes. Thus, in one example, the PSC for thebeacon 104 can be assigned by femto gateway 124 or one or morecomponents of CN 122 to facilitate the disambiguation.

Moreover, in an example, femto node 102 can be configured to providehybrid access such to allow non-member devices to communicate in somecapacity therewith. This can allow such devices to avoid interferencefrom transmission of the beacon 104. The configuration, for example, canbe based on location (e.g., femto nodes close to an enterprise entrancecan be so configured since nodes further within the enterprise may notcause as much beacon interference to non-member devices outside of theenterprise). In addition, in an example, femto node 102 can operate inopen access mode by refraining from transmitting a CSG in MIBs in such acase. Further, in an example, femto node 102 can transmit beacon 104 ascoexistent with a cell reselection beacon used to direct idle-modedevices to discover femto node 102.

Moreover, beacon generating component 212 can set a duration of thebeacon 104 to be a number of milliseconds (ms) and/or based on one ormore events. For example, beacon generating component 212 can set aminimum duration as a time to identify a PSC (e.g., 800 ms) plus a timeto perform system acquisition (e.g., 790 ms) plus a time to detect anincoming hand-in (e.g., 500 ms), plus an optional time for completing ahand-in, TO_(HOacc). In one example, the minimum duration can be set to2090 ms+TO_(HOacc).

Turning to FIG. 3, a wireless communication system 300 is illustratedfor causing a device to perform active hand-in to a femto node. System300 includes a femto node 102 that can communicate one or more beacons104 for causing one or more devices, such as device 106 to hand-incommunications to the femto node 102. Device 106 can communicate withmacrocell base station 110 that provides access to a CN 122 (e.g., viaRNC 120). System 300 can also optionally include a femto gateway 124that manages one or more parameters of the femto node 102 and one ormore other femto nodes (not shown). Device 106 can include a processor302, which can be similar to processor 202, a memory 304, which can besimilar to memory 204 a communications component 306, which can besimilar to communications component 206 provided for establishing andmaintaining communications with one or more other components of system300, such as femto node 102, macrocell base station 110, and/or thelike, a data store 308, which can be similar to data store 208, and/oran optional user interface component 310, which can be similar to userinterface component 210.

Additionally, device 106 can include a pilot measuring component 312 forperforming measurements of one or more pilot signals from one or morebase stations, and a hand-in component 314 for reporting themeasurements and/or performing one or more functions related tohanding-in communications to one or more base stations. Device 106 canalso optionally include a parameter communicating component 316 forreceiving requests for additional parameters and/or communicatingadditional parameters to one or more base stations or other networkcomponents, and/or a proximity determining component 318 for determiningthat device 106 is within proximity of one or more femto nodes.

According to an example, communications component 306 can receive abeacon 104 from femto node 102 over a frequency used for receivingsignals from macrocell base station 110 and/or other base stations in CN122. For example, this can be in response to hand-in component 314determining to measure signals over the frequency for hand-in in aperiod of time reserved or otherwise indicated by macrocell base station110 for performing such signal measurements (e.g., based on a RRCmeasurement control message). Pilot measuring component 312 can performthe measurements, including measurement of beacon 104, which can emulatedownlink transmissions of macrocell base station 110 or similar basestations in CN 122, and hand-in component 314 can report themeasurements to RNC 120 via macrocell base station 110 (e.g., in ahand-in related measurement report). In this example, RNC 120 and/orfemto gateway 124 can identify femto node 102 and/or other femto nodesbased on information provided in the measurement report and/or one ormore other parameters requested from device 106 (e.g., in a RRCmeasurement report message). In this example, RNC 120 can communicatehandover messages to femto node 102 (e.g., through femto gateway 124 orotherwise), and can command device 106 to perform an inter-frequencyhand-in to femto node 102 based on determining an operating frequencythereof. Hand-in component 314 can receive the command, in this example,and can tune communications component 306 to communicate with femto node102 over the operating frequency thereof.

In another example, where device 106 supports inter-frequency hand-in,pilot measuring component 312 can measure the beacon 104 for use withproximity detection. In this example, proximity determining component318 can determine proximity to femto node 102, and parametercommunicating component 316 can signal the proximity to RNC 120. Forexample, proximity determining component 318 can determine the proximitybased on at least one of recognizing the beacon 104, determining whetherthe femto node 102 is accessible by the device 106 based on anidentifier in the beacon 104 (e.g., whether a CSG identifier advertisedin the beacon 104 is in a whitelist of the device 106, whether the femtonode 102 provide hybrid access mode), determining a location of thedevice and a known location of the femto node 102 (e.g., received in anetwork configuration or otherwise), and/or the like. For example,proximity determining component 318 can determine location of the device106 using global positioning system (GPS), observed time difference ofarrival (OTDOA) based on locations of other base stations and signalsreceived therefrom, etc. In another example, proximity determiningcomponent 318 can recognize a cell identity of macrocell base station110 upon communicating therewith, which can indicate proximity to femtonode 102 according to one or more mappings configured in device 106. Forexample, the mappings can associate macrocell base stations with nearbyfemto nodes, and can be received from RNC 120, one or more components ofCN 122, etc. The mappings can be provided to the device by RNC 120, oneor more components of CN 122, based on a hardcoding or otherconfiguration stored in device 106, etc.

While in proximity, parameter communicating component 316 can notify RNC120 of the proximity, and RNC 120 can configure device 106 with one ormore measurement configuration parameters (e.g., and/or can otherwisegrant measurement gaps thereto for communicating with femto node 102).If pilot measuring component 312 is unable to detect a pilot or othersignals from femto node 102, within a period of time, parametercommunicating component 316 can indicate to RNC 120 that device 106 isno longer within proximity of the femto node 102, and the RNC 120 candeconfigure the one or more measurement configuration parameters. Forexample, this can include indicating that the device 106 is no longergranted the measurement gaps. In this regard, RNC 120 can grantmeasurement gaps to device 106 when in proximity of a femto node toconserve bandwidth.

In another example, as described, RNC 120 can configure device 106 toperform measurement reports when quality of a source base station dropsbelow a threshold level, which can be based on one or more events (e.g.,event 1 f, 2 b, 2 d, etc. in WCDMA). Hand-in component 314 can receivesuch a configuration, and can accordingly trigger a measurement reportwhere pilot measuring component 312 detects that the quality of a pilotfrom macrocell base station 110 falls below a threshold level. This canbe based on performing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or similarmeasurement of the pilot or of other signals from macrocell base station110 received by communications component 306, and/or the like.

In addition, for example, macrocell base station 110 can configuredevice 106 to report one or more other parameters, such as a PSC,chip-level timing information, layer-2 information (e.g., SFN/CFN), cellor CSG identity, membership information, timing difference with respectto macrocell base station 110, etc. when communicating a measurementreport. In this example, parameter communicating component 316 canreceive such a configuration request, and can accordingly determine ormeasure the one or more requested parameters upon hand-in component 314determining to generate a measurement report. For example, parametercommunicating component 316 can determine the one or more parametersfrom the beacon 104, from system information (e.g., SIB) of the femtonode 102, etc. In an example, parameter communicating component 316 canread SIBs or other signals of the femto node 102 from the beacon 104 onthe macrocell base station 110 frequency, without need for measurementgaps. It is to be appreciated, however, that parameter communicatingcomponent 316 can read SIBs or other signals from femto node 102 duringone or more compressed mode or other periods where device 106 can tuneaway from the macrocell base station 110 frequency to communicate withfemto node 102 on the operating frequency thereof in other examples.Thus, in one example, device 106 can determine a PSC of the beacon 104and a PSC used by femto node 102 for transmitting pilot signals on theoperating frequency. It is to be appreciated that parametercommunicating component 316 can communicate the additional parametersalong with or following the measurement report (e.g., in a RRCmeasurement report message or similar message). Such parameters can beused to disambiguate the beacon 104 from other beacons, as describedabove and further herein.

For example, RNC 120 can configure device 106 to report a PSC used byfemto node 102 upon detection thereof. For example, this can include RNC120 transmitting a RRC measurement control message or similar message todevice 106, which can include a list of PSCs corresponding to CSGscommunicating on the operating frequency of macrocell base station 110(and can in one example include a PSC utilized for communicating beacon104, as described). In this example, parameter communicating component316 can receive the configuration or request for PSCs. Pilot measuringcomponent 312 can measure beacon 104 received over an operatingfrequency of macrocell base station 110, and can determine a PSC relatedto beacon 104 is in the list received in the RRC measurement controlmessage. As described, pilot measuring component 312 can determine thePSC as that utilized to scramble beacon 104, or other information fromsystem information related to the beacon 104, etc.

In this example, hand-in component 314 can generate a RRC measurementreport message that includes a measurement of the beacon 104 (e.g., ameasured SNR), and in one example, parameter communicating component 316can include the PSC or other measured parameters in the measurementreport as well. Hand-in component 314 can communicate the RRCmeasurement report message to RNC 120. In another example, parametercommunicating component 316 can transmit the PSC to the RNC 120 in theRRC measurement report message. RNC 120, femto gateway 124, and/or oneor more components of CN 122 can utilize at least the PSC todisambiguate the beacon 104 for associating with femto node 102. Forexample, a cell identifier, difference in observed timing, etc., of thefemto node 102 can additionally or alternatively be used to disambiguatethe femto node 102 corresponding to beacon 104.

In one example, femto node 102 can operate intra-frequency withmacrocell base station 110. In this example, parameter communicatingcomponent 316 can read SIB from femto node 102 to determine one or moreparameters thereof before being triggered by RNC 120 or based onproximity. In this example, parameter communicating component 316 canobtain a CSG identifier of femto node 102, which proximity determiningcomponent 318 can further utilize to determine whether device 106 iswithin proximity of femto node 102. For example, if femto node 102advertises a CSG identifier that is not in a whitelist of device 106,parameter communicating component 316 need not notify of proximity tothe femto node 102. If so, parameter communicating component 316 canindicate the proximity, and RNC 120 can trigger intra-frequency hand-into femto node 102. For example, parameter communicating component 316can prioritize reading of SIB of multiple femto nodes based at least inpart on a cell individual offset and/or power level thereof.

Once a femto node 102 is detected for hand-in, hand-in component 314 canperform WCDMA system information acquisition, in one example, at leastin part by at least one of decoding P-CCPCH time transmit intervals(TTI) until SIB3 is detected, decoding SFN, MIB, then SIB3 (e.g.,possibly with multiple attempts), and/or continuously decoding P-CCPCHTTIs until MIB and/or SIB1 and/or SIB2 is detected followed by SIB3 atthe scheduling interval. Hand-in component 314 can report one or moreparameters of at least SIB3 information (e.g., in a measurement reportor other message), as described, to RNC 120 for providing to femto node102 (and/or femto gateway 124) to construct a hand-in command. In thisexample, hand-in component 314 can receive a hand-in command from thefemto node 102 via RNC 120 and/or other components.

Referring to FIG. 4, a wireless communication system 400 is illustratedfor causing a device to perform active hand-in to a femto node. System400 includes a femto node 102 that can communicate one or more beacons104 for causing one or more devices, such as device 106 to hand-incommunications to the femto node 102. Device 106 can communicate withmacrocell base station 110 that provides access to a CN 122 (e.g., viaRNC 120). System 400 can also optionally include a femto gateway 124that manages one or more parameters of the femto node 102 and one ormore other femto nodes (not shown). RNC 120 can include a processor 402,which can be similar to processor 202, a memory 404, which can besimilar to memory 204 a communications component 406, which can besimilar to communications component 206 provided for establishing andmaintaining communications with one or more other components of system400, such as macrocell base station 110, CN 122, and/or the like, a datastore 408, which can be similar to data store 208, and/or an optionaluser interface component 410, which can be similar to user interfacecomponent 210.

Additionally, RNC 120 can include a measurement report receivingcomponent 412 for obtaining a measurement report from device related tohand-in, an optional femto node disambiguating component 414 foridentifying or at least assisting in identifying a femto node in themeasurement report, and a hand-in component 416 for performing hand-inof the device to one or more femto nodes or other base stations. RNC 120can optionally include a parameter communicating component 418 forreceiving additional parameters from the device for identifying thefemto node, and/or a proximity receiving component 420 for obtaining anindication that the device is within proximity of the one or more femtonodes.

According to an example, hand-in component 416 can configure device 106to report pilot measurements of one or more beacons upon detecting thatdevice 106 is within a threshold proximity of a base station or femtonode corresponding to the one or more beacons (e.g., by communicating acorresponding RRC measurement control message thereto). Thus, forexample, device 106 can receive beacon 104 from femto node 102 over theoperating frequency of macrocell base station 110, measure a pilotsignal in the beacon 104, and transmit a measurement report with themeasurement and/or one or more other parameters to RNC 120 (e.g., in aRRC measurement report message), as described, based on determiningdevice 106 is within a threshold proximity to femto node 102. Forexample, this can be based on a quality (e.g., SNR) of the beacon 104.In this example, measurement report receiving component 412 can obtainthe measurement report from device 106, and hand-in component 416 canconfigure one or more measurement configuration parameters for device106 to allow device 106 to switch frequencies during one or more periodsto communicate with femto node 102 (e.g., to perform system informationreadings of femto node 102). For example, such parameters can includeone or more compressed mode parameters specifying at least one or moretime intervals during which the device 106 can measure other basestations or femto nodes. In a similar example, hand-in component 416 canconfigure device 106 to report a proximity indication instead of ameasurement report, and can similarly configure compressed mode based onreceiving the proximity indication.

In another example, parameter communicating component 418 can configuredevice 106 to report other parameters related to measured base stations,such as PSC (e.g., used for beacon 104 or one or more measured pilotsignals), layer-2 information, such as SFN/CFN, cell or CSG identity,membership information, observed timing difference with respect tomacrocell base station 110, and/or the like. In this example, asdescribed, device 106 can receive the configuration, and can accordinglyreport the one or more parameters along with or subsequent to themeasurement report. It is to be appreciated, in one example, that theparameters can be measured by the device 106 based on reading systeminformation of the femto node 102. In either case, parametercommunicating component 418 can obtain the one or more parameters, andfemto node disambiguating component 414 can utilize the one or moreparameters in identifying femto node 102, and/or allowing femto gateway124 to identify femto node 102, based on the information collected andreported by device 106 from beacon 104. In another example, theparameters can be provided to the femto gateway 124 to identify femtonode 102, as described herein.

In one example, device 106 can communicate a cell identity of femto node102 (e.g., as advertised in beacon 104 or otherwise) to RNC 120 alongwith a measurement report including signal measurements of femto node102 (e.g., in a RRC measurement report message). In this example,measurement report receiving component 412 can receive the measurementreport and parameter communicating component 418 can receive orotherwise determine the cell identity communicated by device 106.Hand-in component 416 can determine to hand-in device 106 to femto node102 based on measurements thereof in the measurement report, and caninclude the cell identity in one or more handover messages to CN 122and/or femto gateway 124 (e.g., in a RANAP relocation required message).In this regard, one or more components of CN 122 and/or femto gateway124 can disambiguate the femto node 102, and can communicate thehandover messages thereto to facilitate hand-in of device 106 thereto.

In another example, a PSC of beacon 104 can be mapped to a cell identityof femto node 102, and such a mapping can be received and/or stored byfemto node disambiguating component 414. For example, femto nodedisambiguating component 414 can obtain one or more mappings from one ormore components of CN 122, femto node gateway 124 that can assign thePSCs, femto node 102, and/or other components. Thus, device 106 candetermine and communicate a PSC of beacon 104, as described, parametercommunicating component 418 can obtain the PSC from device 106, andfemto node disambiguating component 414 can identify femto node 102using the obtained PSC (e.g., based on the mapping). In another example,parameter communicating component 418 can obtain a PSC of a pilot signalof femto node 102 from device 106. In this example, the PSC of beacon104 in combination with the PSC of the pilot signal can be used in themapping to determine a cell identity. For example, the combination canbe a Cartesian product of the PSCs, and/or the like. In another example,hand-in component 416 can communicate the one or more PSCs to femtogateway 124 or CN 122 component for determining the cell identifierbased on the mapping.

In yet another example, parameter communicating component 418 can obtaina measurement report message from the device 106 corresponding to thefemto node 102 in a handover message to CN 122 or femto gateway 124. CN122 or femto gateway 124 can use the measurement report message tosimilarly attempt to identify femto node 102 based on informationregarding the respective beacon 104. In any case, hand-in component 416can receive an operating frequency of femto node 102 (e.g., and/or a PSCutilized by femto node 102 over the operating frequency), and canaccordingly prepare the device 106 for hand-in to the femto node 102(e.g., by causing device 106 to tune its receiver to the operatingfrequency for signals using the PSC).

In an example, device 106 can indicate proximity to femto node 102 toRNC 120. In this example, proximity receiving component 420 can obtainthe indication, and hand-in component 416 can configure one or moremeasurement configuration parameters for device 106 to allow device 106to measure femto node 102 during a time period (e.g., in compressedmode). In a similar example, device 106 can indicate leaving proximityof femto node 102 to RNC 120, in which case hand-in component 416 candeconfigure the one or more measurement configuration parameters (e.g.,to cease using compressed mode), which can conserve radio resources.

Turning to FIG. 5, a wireless communication system 500 is illustratedfor causing a device to perform active hand-in to a femto node. System500 includes a femto node 102 that can communicate one or more beacons104 for causing one or more devices, such as device 106 to hand-incommunications to the femto node 102. Device 106 can communicate withmacrocell base station 110 that provides access to a CN 122 (e.g., viaRNC 120). System 500 also includes a femto gateway 124 that manages oneor more parameters of the femto node 102 and one or more other femtonodes (not shown). Femto gateway 124 can include a processor 502, whichcan be similar to processor 202, a memory 504, which can be similar tomemory 204 a communications component 506, which can be similar tocommunications component 206 provided for establishing and maintainingcommunications with one or more other components of system 500, such asfemto node 102, CN 122, and/or the like, a data store 508, which can besimilar to data store 208, and/or an optional user interface component510, which can be similar to user interface component 210.

Additionally, femto gateway 124 can include a PSC component 512 formanaging one or more PSCs and/or other parameters (e.g., chip-leveltiming, frame timing, cell identity, etc., as described above) of one ormore femto nodes, a hand-in component 514 for facilitating hand-in of adevice to the identified femto node, and a femto node disambiguatingcomponent 516 for identifying a femto node based on one or more PSCs orother identifiers.

According to an example, hand-in component 514 can obtain a handovermessage from RNC 120 via CN 122 that identifies a femto node 102 towhich device 106 is to be handed-in. For example, the handover messagecan include an identifier of the femto node 102, which can be a cellidentifier, a PSC of a transmitted beacon 104, a PSC of a pilot signaltransmitted by femto node 102, a CSG identifier, layer-2 information,etc., as described. The handover message can include a RANAP relocationrequest or similar message. Femto node disambiguating component 516 canidentify the femto node 102 based on the identifier, and hand-incomponent 514 can forward the handover message or a different handovermessage (e.g., RANAP relocation required) thereto to facilitate hand-inof device 106. In this example, as described, femto node 102 can preparea command to switch device 106 to an operating frequency of femto node102, and can provide the command to femto gateway 124 for communicatingto RNC 120.

In one example, PSC component 512 can assign or otherwise receive anindication of a PSC utilized by femto node 102 to transmit a beacon 104.Thus, PSC component 512 can store a mapping of PSC to cell identifiersuch that femto node disambiguating component 516 can subsequentlyidentify femto node 102 based on a PSC reported for beacon 104. Inanother example PSC component 512 can assign or otherwise receive anindication of a PSC used by femto node 102 for transmitting a pilotsignal in an operating frequency of femto node 102. Thus, PSC component512 can store a cell identity that corresponds to a combination of thePSCs (e.g., a Cartesian product thereof) for subsequently identifyingfemto node 102 based on reported PSCs. Moreover, PSC component 512 canstore other observed or received information regarding femto node 102and/or other femto nodes, such as chip-level timing, frame timing, cellidentifiers, etc. In one example, PSC component 512 can communicate suchmappings to one or more other nodes, such as RNC 120 for disambiguatingfemto nodes from reported PSCs or other parameters.

Where the identifier received in the handover message (e.g., theidentifier and/or other information reported by the device 106) does notuniquely match a femto node, femto node disambiguating component 516 canutilize additional information to identify a femto node to which device106 is to be handed-in. For example, femto node disambiguating component516 can determine with which of a set of possible femto nodescorresponding to provided identifiers or other information the device106 is allowed to communicate (e.g., based on CSG identifier). If onefemto node 102 results, this can be the femto node to which hand-incomponent 514 communicates the handover message. In another example, thedevice 106 can send a RRC measurement report message to RNC 120, whichcan be included in the handover message. In this example, femto nodedisambiguating component 516 can determine which of a set of possiblefemto nodes may have a reported time difference of arrival with respectto macrocell base station 110 or one or more other reported basestations, an absolute time, a cell coverage, a RF pattern matching, etc.

If femto node disambiguating component 516 cannot determine a singlefemto node 102 (or otherwise does not so determine), hand-in component514 can communicate the handover message to multiple femto nodes, suchas femto node 102, which can accept or deny the hand-in. In the instanceof multiple accepting femto nodes, hand-in component 514 can communicaterelated handover commands to macrocell base station 110, which canfurther attempt to select a femto node 102 based on other informationavailable (e.g., uplink RSSI as measured against coverage informationfor the femto nodes, signal timing, etc.), as described.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example system 600 for causing active hand-insignaling based on transmitting a beacon. System 600 includes a femtonode 102, device 106, macrocell base station 110, RNC, 120, CN 122, andan optional femto gateway 124, which can communicate as described above.

In a specific example, (e.g., for devices that are pre-Release 9 ofWCDMA), RNC 120 can transmit a RRC measurement control message 602 todevice 106 to setup event land for device 106 to report whenencountering a PSC that may belong to a femto node, such as femto node102. In one example, the RRC measurement control message 602 canindicate to device 106 to report a timing difference (e.g., based onSFN) between a measured femto node and one or more other base stations.Device 106 can then detect beacon 604 from femto node 102, which can bebroadcast on the operating frequency of macrocell base station 110, asdescribed. In one example, device 106 can determine femto node 102 isassociated with a CSG in a list received from one or more components ofCN 122. For example, device 106 can determine the CSG of femto node 102based on determining a CSG from a PSC related to the beacon 604, a CSGidentifier in the beacon 604, etc. Moreover, for example, device 106 canread a broadcast channel (BCCH) to decode a SFN.

Device 106 can generate a measurement report, which can includeidentifying information of femto node 102, such as a CSG identifier,PSC, etc., and/or a timing difference with respect to the macrocell basestation 110 (e.g., based on SFN), for example. Device 106 can transmitthe measurement report in a RRC measurement report message 606 to RNC120 (e.g., via macrocell base station 110). In an example, an event landcan be triggered at the device 106 based on measurement of beacon 604,and device 106 can communicate the measurement report based on theevent. RNC 120 can then transmit a RANAP relocation required message 608to CN 122, which can include information received in the RRC measurementreport message 606, such as PSC of the femto node 102 (e.g., or anidentifier corresponding to the PSC), timing difference, etc.

In one example, RNC 120 can populate a cell identifier field of theRANAP relocation required message with the PSC, or a value computed as afunction thereof. In one specific function, fake-UC-Id can be a 28-bitinteger with:

-   i) fake-UC-Id[28:17]=RNC-id of femto gateway 124 (12-bit, configured    in RNC operation support system (OSS))-   ii) fake-UC-Id[9:1]=g(PSC) (9-bit, configured in RNC OSS), where g    is a one-to-one 9-bit function-   iii) fake-UC-Id[16:10]=0000000_(b)

In this regard, the fake-UC-Id used as the cell identifier in the RANAPrelocation required message can be matched by femto gateway 124 againstfemto node 102 advertising characteristics encoded by the function. Forexample, the femto gateway 124 can match fake-UC-Id with the femto nodeswhose beacons may have triggered (e.g., where the beacons include thePSC index at fake-UD-Id[9:1]).

Moreover, in one example, the RANAP relocation required message 608 caninclude at least a portion of the RRC measurement report message 606,which can allow femto node 102 to set an initial power for communicatingwith device 106 following hand-in. CN 122 can communicate acorresponding RANAP relocation request message 610 to femto node 102,optionally through femto gateway 124 which can determine femto node 102based on information in the RANAP relocation request message 610, asdescribed. For example, the RANAP relocation request message 610 caninclude parameters from the received RANAP relocation required message608. In this example, femto node 102 can construct a handover command612 based on the RANAP relocation request message 610, and cancommunicate the handover command 612 to RNC 120, as shown at 614, andback to device 106 to facilitate hand-in to femto node 102.

It is to be appreciated, as described, that femto node 102 can performadditional functions to determine whether to construct handover command612 or to deny the RANAP relocation request from CN 122 (e.g., bysending a RANAP relocation failure or similar message). For example,upon receiving RANAP location request message 610, femto node 612 candetermine whether device 106 is detected to determine whether femto node102 is to be the target for hand-in. Where a RRC measurement reportmessage is received in the RANAP relocation request message 610, femtonode 102 can determine an OFF and timing measurement (T_(m)) reported inthe cell synchronization information element of the RRC measurementreport message reported for femto node 102 and/or RNC 120. For example,OFF=(SFN-CFN_(Tx)) mod 256, where SFN-CFN is the observed timedifference to macrocell base station 110 defined as OFF×38400+_(Tm), andT_(m)=(T_(UETx)−T₀)−T_(RxSFN). For each pair of nodes for which theabove is reported, femto node 102 can calculateT_(RxSFN)={(OFF_(CELL1)−OFF_(CELL2))×38400+(T_(m,CELL1)−T_(mCELL2))} mod(38400×256). If the computed T_(RxSFN) is has a probability beyond athreshold of indicating femto node 102, in this example, femto node 102can construct the handover command 612 to hand-in device 106 to femtonode 102.

In WCDMA, a clock of femto node 102 and RNC 120 can drift apart by up to1.34 chips per second. In addition, device 106 can receive signals fromfemto node 102 over multiple paths, which, in many cases, can result indelay of up to ±40 chips. Given a number of refreshes per hour performedby femto node 102 to synchronize timing, the following table displaysuncertainty that a computed T_(RxSFN) matches femto node 102, forexample.

Discernable ΔT_(RxSFN) Re- values (if only fresh lower 8 bits of rateDrift Multipath Total SFN are considered, (per Uncer- Uncer- Uncer-otherwise hour) tainty tainty tainty multiply by 16) Comments 1 4825 404865 1010 Hourly Updates 2 2413 40 2453 2004 3 1609 40 1649 2981 4 120740 1247 3943 5 965 40 1005 4888 6 805 40 845 5819 7 690 40 730 6735 8604 40 644 7636 9 537 40 577 8523 10 483 40 523 9397 Updates every sixminutes 60 81 40 121 40598 Updates every minuteThus, femto node 102 can determine whether it is the target based on theabove table and whether a measured difference for T_(RxSFN) is withinthe certainty based on the refresh rate. In another example, femto node102 can communicate the T_(RxSFN) (e.g., actual, expected, oruncertainty) to femto gateway 124 in the handover command so femtogateway 124 can determine whether femto node 102 is to be the target. Ifso, femto gateway 124 can forward the handover command to device 106through the various nodes. If not, femto gateway 124 can determine ifanother femto node responds with similar values for determining a targetfemto node. In another example, where multiple handover commands arereceived, femto gateway 124 can select the femto node 102 with thehighest probability of being the target based on a most desired valuefor T_(RxSFN).

Moreover, for example, where device 106 measures beacon 604 during acompressed mode measurement gap along with a pilot from femto node 102(e.g., which can be indicated in the RRC measurement report message 606by device 106 and/or in the RANAP relocation required 608 from RNC 120),femto node 102 can match T_(m) between the beacon 604 and pilot.

In another specific example, (e.g., for devices that are Release 9 ofWCDMA), RNC 120 can configure device 106 to acquire intra-frequencysystem information during certain time intervals using a RRC measurementcontrol message 602. As described, device 106 can thus detect beacon 604and can transmit a proximity indication 606 to RNC 120 comprising a CSGidentifier in beacon 604, a PSC, and/or the like. Regardless of whetherproximity indication is performed, device 106, RNC 120, and CN 122 canutilize Release 9 intra-frequency procedures for hand-in, while femtonode 102 uses inter-frequency procedures to cause device 106 to hand-inon the operating frequency of femto node 102 and not the frequencycorresponding to beacon 604. Thus device 106 is not required tocommunicate in compressed mode to measure inter-frequency pilot signalsof other femto nodes.

Referring to FIGS. 7-10, example methodologies relating to communicatinga beacon to facilitate active hand-in are illustrated. While, forpurposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown anddescribed as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciatedthat the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as someacts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in differentorders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and describedherein. For example, it is to be appreciated that a methodology couldalternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated actsmay be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 7, an example methodology 700 is displayed thatfacilitates broadcasting a beacon to facilitate active hand-in. At 702,a pilot signal can be transmitted over a femto node operating frequency.For example, the pilot signal can include parameters for acquiringsystem access and/or identifying a source of the pilot signal. At 704, abeacon can be generated to facilitate active hand-in of one or moredevices communicating with one or more macrocell base stations. Forexample, the beacon can be generated to emulate downlink transmissionsby cells in a wireless network (e.g., including similar channels, etc.).In addition, in an example, the beacon can include a PSC to facilitateidentifying a source of the beacon. The PSC can have been assigned by afemto gateway in one example to facilitate identifying the source of thebeacon at the femto gateway or other wireless network components.Optionally, at 706, a power can be determined for transmitting thebeacon. For example, the power can be an initial power, a maximum power,and/or a current power.

The power can be determined based on sensing presence or potentialinterference to one or more devices. For example, as described, this canbe based on one or more parameters or measurements, such as a RSSImeasured over the macrocell operating frequency (e.g., compared to aprevious RSSI, compared to an RSSI of another frequency to detecthand-in of a device to the other frequency, and/or the like), a measuredsignal strength of one or more other base stations, and/or the like. At708, the beacon can be broadcast over a macrocell operating frequency ofthe one or more macrocell base stations different from the femto nodeoperating frequency. Thus, the beacon can facilitate active mode hand-inof one or more devices communicating with a macrocell over the macrocelloperating frequency.

Turning to FIG. 8, an example methodology 800 is displayed thatfacilitates determining whether to modify broadcasting a beacon. At 802,a beacon can be broadcast over a macrocell operating frequency. Asdescribed, the beacon can emulate downlink transmissions of a macrocellbase station to facilitate active hand-in of one or more devices. At804, a power measurement can be performed over the macrocell operatingfrequency. For example, this can be an RSSI or similar measurement. At806, it can be determined whether a device is detected. For example,this can be inferred based in part on an increase in RSSI, as describedabove. If so, it can be determined whether the device is not allowed tocommunicate at 808. For example, this can include obtaining anindication of such for the device, attempting to authenticate thedevice, obtaining a whitelist of CSGs to which the device is allowedaccess and attempting to locate a CSG identifier in the whitelist, etc.If not (e.g., the device may be allowed to communicate), at 810, thebeacon can be broadcasted at an increased power. As described, thebeacon power can be increased based on a deterministic power level,stepped up until a hand-in is detected, and/or the like.

In any case, following broadcasting the beacon at the increased power,other power measurements can be performed at 804 to facilitatedynamically adjusting the beacon power. If the device is not allowed tocommunicate (e.g., in the CSG) at 808, beacon power can be reduced at812. For example, the beacon power can be reduced as a function of themeasured RSSI, a difference between the measured RSSI and a previousRSSI, etc. to mitigate interference to the device. In this example,additional power measurements can then be performed at 804 to facilitatedynamically adjusting the beacon power. If a device is not detected at806, transmitting the beacon can be refrained from at 814. In thisexample, as well, power measurements can be performed at 804.

Referring to FIG. 9, an example methodology 900 for communicating ahandover request message for performing inter-frequency hand-in of adevice to a femto node is illustrated. At 902, a handover requestmessage can be received comprising a PSC utilized by a femto node tobroadcast a beacon on a macrocell operating frequency. For example, thePSC can be assigned to the femto node by a femto gateway or there canotherwise be a known association of the PSC to at least the femto node.At 904, the femto node can be determined based in part on the PSC. Thus,for example, additional received or measured parameters can be utilizedto disambiguate the femto node, such as another PSC of a related pilotsignal, an observed timing difference between the femto node and one ormore macrocell base stations, uplink RSSI, a reported location of adevice, femto node, etc. At 906, the handover request message can becommunicated to the femto node. Thus, the femto node can prepare toreceive hand-in of the device.

Turning to FIG. 10, an example methodology 1000 is depicted forindicating proximity to a femto node. At 1002, a beacon can be receivedfrom a femto node comprising a CSG identifier at a device. For example,the CSG identifier can be used to implement restricted association atthe femto node, as described, to allow access to members of the CSG. At1004, it can be determined whether the device is a member of the femtonode based in part on the CSG identifier. For example, this can includecomparing the CSG identifier to a whitelist of accessible CSGidentifiers, determining that the femto node operates in hybrid mode,etc. At 1006, entering a proximity to the femto node can be indicated toa RNC based at least in part on the determining and a measurement of thebeacon. For example, a measurement report can be transmitted to an RNCcomprising a proximity indicator (e.g., system information with aproximity indicator information element) and the measurement of thebeacon (e.g., an SNR thereof). Thus, one or more measurementconfiguration parameters can be received for receiving signals from thefemto node. For example, the parameters can correspond to operating in acompressed mode. In addition, upon receiving a beacon without the CSGidentifier or not receiving the beacon, for example, exit of theproximity to the femto node can be indicated.

Referring to FIG. 11, an example methodology 1100 is illustrated forconfiguring measurement configuration parameters for a device. At 1102,a measurement report can be received from a device comprising anidentifier of a CSG and an indication that the device is a member of theCSG. In one example, the identifier can be part of the measurementreport. At 1104, one or more measurement configuration parameters can beconfigured for the device based on the indication. For example, themeasurement configuration parameters can relate to operating in acompressed mode and can include time intervals over which the device canmeasure other base stations, for example. In addition, upon receiving asecond measurement report from the device that does not include the CSGidentifier, the measurement configuration parameters can bedeconfigured.

It will be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more aspectsdescribed herein, inferences can be made regarding transmitting a beaconto facilitate inter-frequency active hand-in, determining a power forthe beacon, determining whether to transmit the beacon in a given timeperiod, determining a femto node related to a beacon, and/or the like,as described. As used herein, the term to “infer” or “inference” refersgenerally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of thesystem, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as capturedvia events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

With reference to FIG. 12, illustrated is a system 1200 for generating abeacon to cause active hand-in of one or more devices. For example,system 1200 can reside at least partially within a femto node. It is tobe appreciated that system 1200 is represented as including functionalblocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functionsimplemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g.,firmware). System 1200 includes a logical grouping 1202 of electricalcomponents that can act in conjunction. For instance, logical grouping1202 can include an electrical component for transmitting a pilot signalover a femto node operating frequency 1204. In one example, a first PSCassigned from a femto gateway or otherwise received or determined can beutilized in transmitting the pilot signal.

Further, logical grouping 1202 can comprise an electrical component forgenerating a beacon to facilitate active hand-in of one or more devicescommunicating with one or more macrocell base stations 1206. Electricalcomponent 1204, for example, can transmit the beacon over a macrocellfrequency, as described. In addition, logical grouping 1202 canoptionally include an electrical component for determining a power fortransmitting the beacon 1208. This can be based on RSSI or othermeasurements, as described. For example, electrical component 1204 caninclude a communications component 206, as described above. In addition,for example, electrical component 1206, in an aspect, can include beacongenerating component 212, as described above. Moreover, electricalcomponent 1208 can include a beacon power determining component 216, asdescribed.

Additionally, system 1200 can include a memory 1210 that retainsinstructions for executing functions associated with the electricalcomponents 1204, 1206, and 1208. While shown as being external to memory1210, it is to be understood that one or more of the electricalcomponents 1204, 1206, and 1208 can exist within memory 1210. In oneexample, electrical components 1204, 1206, and 1208 can comprise atleast one processor, or each electrical component 1204, 1206, and 1208can be a corresponding module of at least one processor. Moreover, in anadditional or alternative example, electrical components 1204, 1206, and1208 can be a computer program product comprising a computer readablemedium, where each electrical component 1204, 1206, and 1208 can becorresponding code.

With reference to FIG. 13, illustrated is a system 1300 for determininga femto node related to a reported measurement from a beacon thereof.For example, system 1300 can reside at least partially within a RNC,femto gateway, etc. It is to be appreciated that system 1300 isrepresented as including functional blocks, which can be functionalblocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, orcombination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1300 includes a logicalgrouping 1302 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. Forinstance, logical grouping 1302 can include an electrical component forreceiving a handover request message comprising a PSC utilized by afemto node to broadcast a beacon on a macrocell operating frequency1304. In one example, system 1300 can have assigned the PSC and/or canotherwise have an association of the PSC to the femto node (e.g., inconjunction with one or more other parameters, such as a PSC for a pilotsignal, a location, etc.).

Further, logical grouping 1302 can comprise an electrical component fordetermining the femto node based in part on the PSC 1306. Moreover, forexample, electrical component 1304 can transmit the handover requestmessage to the determined femto node. For example, electrical component1304 can include a communications component 406 or 506, as describedabove. In addition, for example, electrical component 1306, in anaspect, can include a femto node disambiguating component 414 or 516, asdescribed above.

Additionally, system 1300 can include a memory 1308 that retainsinstructions for executing functions associated with the electricalcomponents 1304 and 1306. While shown as being external to memory 1308,it is to be understood that one or more of the electrical components1304 and 1306 can exist within memory 1308. In one example, electricalcomponents 1304 and 1306 can comprise at least one processor, or eachelectrical component 1304 and 1306 can be a corresponding module of atleast one processor. Moreover, in an additional or alternative example,electrical components 1304 and 1306 can be a computer program productcomprising a computer readable medium, where each electrical component1304 and 1306 can be corresponding code.

With reference to FIG. 14, illustrated is a system 1400 for indicatingproximity to a femto node. For example, system 1400 can reside at leastpartially within a device. It is to be appreciated that system 1400 isrepresented as including functional blocks, which can be functionalblocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, orcombination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1400 includes a logicalgrouping 1402 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. Forinstance, logical grouping 1402 can include an electrical component forreceiving a beacon from a femto node comprising a CSG identifier 1404.In one example, the beacon can be received over a macrocell frequency.Logical grouping 1402 can further include an electrical component fordetermining membership in the femto node based in part on the CSGidentifier 1406. For example, this can include determining whethersystem 1400 is a member of the femto node (e.g., whether the CSG is in awhitelist of system 1400, whether the femto node operates in hybridaccess mode, etc.).

Further, logical grouping 1402 can comprise an electrical component forindicating entering a proximity to the femto node to a RNC based atleast in part on the determining and a measurement of the beacon 1408.In this regard, the macrocell can schedule one or more measurementconfiguration parameters (e.g. compressed mode parameters) to the deviceto allow measuring the femto node during specified time intervals. Inaddition, electrical component 1404 can measure the beacon in asubsequent time period, and electrical component 1406 can detect thatsystem 1400 is leaving proximity of the femto node (e.g., based on adiminishing signal quality of the beacon), and electrical component 1408can similarly notify the macrocell base station. For example, electricalcomponent 1404 can include a communications component 306, andelectrical component 1406 can include a proximity determining component318, as described above. In addition, for example, electrical component1408, in an aspect, can include a parameter communicating component 316,as described above.

Additionally, system 1400 can include a memory 1410 that retainsinstructions for executing functions associated with the electricalcomponents 1404, 1406, and 1408. While shown as being external to memory1410, it is to be understood that one or more of the electricalcomponents 1404, 1406, and 1408 can exist within memory 1410. In oneexample, electrical components 1404, 1406, and 1408 can comprise atleast one processor, or each electrical component 1404, 1406, and 1408can be a corresponding module of at least one processor. Moreover, in anadditional or alternative example, electrical components 1404, 1406, and1408 can be a computer program product comprising a computer readablemedium, where each electrical component 1404, 1406, and 1408 can becorresponding code.

With reference to FIG. 15, illustrated is a system 1500 for configuringa device with measurement configuration parameters. For example, system1500 can reside at least partially within a RNC. It is to be appreciatedthat system 1500 is represented as including functional blocks, whichcan be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by aprocessor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System1500 includes a logical grouping 1502 of electrical components that canact in conjunction. For instance, logical grouping 1502 can include anelectrical component for receiving a measurement report from a devicecomprising an identifier of a CSG and an indication that the device is amember of the CSG 1504.

Further, logical grouping 1502 can comprise an electrical component forconfiguring one or more measurement configuration parameters for thedevice based at least in part on the indication 1506. For example, themeasurement configuration parameters can correspond to compressed modeparameters, such as one or more measurement gaps during which otheraccess points can be measured. In addition, electrical component 1504can obtain an indication that the device is leaving proximity of thefemto node, or otherwise determine such based on a subsequentmeasurement report from the device, and electrical component 1506 canaccordingly deconfigure compressed mode parameters to conserve resourcesat the device. For example, electrical component 1504 can include aproximity receiving component 420, as described above. In addition, forexample, electrical component 1506, in an aspect, can include a hand-incomponent 416, as described above.

Additionally, system 1500 can include a memory 1508 that retainsinstructions for executing functions associated with the electricalcomponents 1504 and 1506. While shown as being external to memory 1508,it is to be understood that one or more of the electrical components1504 and 1506 can exist within memory 1508. In one example, electricalcomponents 1504 and 1506 can comprise at least one processor, or eachelectrical component 1504 and 1506 can be a corresponding module of atleast one processor. Moreover, in an additional or alternative example,electrical components 1504 and 1506 can be a computer program productcomprising a computer readable medium, where each electrical component1504 and 1506 can be corresponding code.

Referring now to FIG. 16, a wireless communication system 1600 isillustrated in accordance with various embodiments presented herein.System 1600 comprises a base station 1602 that can include multipleantenna groups. For example, one antenna group can include antennas 1604and 1606, another group can comprise antennas 1608 and 1610, and anadditional group can include antennas 1612 and 1614. Two antennas areillustrated for each antenna group; however, more or fewer antennas canbe utilized for each group. Base station 1602 can additionally include atransmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turncomprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmissionand reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators,demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as is appreciated.

Base station 1602 can communicate with one or more mobile devices suchas mobile device 1616 and mobile device 1622; however, it is to beappreciated that base station 1602 can communicate with substantiallyany number of mobile devices similar to mobile devices 1616 and 1622.Mobile devices 1616 and 1622 can be, for example, cellular phones, smartphones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computingdevices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or anyother suitable device for communicating over wireless communicationsystem 1600. As depicted, mobile device 1616 is in communication withantennas 1612 and 1614, where antennas 1612 and 1614 transmitinformation to mobile device 1616 over a forward link 1618 and receiveinformation from mobile device 1616 over a reverse link 1620. Moreover,mobile device 1622 is in communication with antennas 1604 and 1606,where antennas 1604 and 1606 transmit information to mobile device 1622over a forward link 1624 and receive information from mobile device 1622over a reverse link 1626. In a frequency division duplex (FDD) system,forward link 1618 can utilize a different frequency band than that usedby reverse link 1620, and forward link 1624 can employ a differentfrequency band than that employed by reverse link 1626, for example.Further, in a time division duplex (TDD) system, forward link 1618 andreverse link 1620 can utilize a common frequency band and forward link1624 and reverse link 1626 can utilize a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are designated tocommunicate can be referred to as a sector of base station 1602. Forexample, antenna groups can be designed to communicate to mobile devicesin a sector of the areas covered by base station 1602. In communicationover forward links 1618 and 1624, the transmitting antennas of basestation 1602 can utilize beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio offorward links 1618 and 1624 for mobile devices 1616 and 1622. Also,while base station 1602 utilizes beamforming to transmit to mobiledevices 1616 and 1622 scattered randomly through an associated coverage,mobile devices in neighboring cells can be subject to less interferenceas compared to a base station transmitting through a single antenna toall its mobile devices. Moreover, mobile devices 1616 and 1622 cancommunicate directly with one another using a peer-to-peer or ad hoctechnology as depicted. According to an example, system 1600 can be amultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system. In addition,for example, base station 1602 can receive measurement reports fromdevice 1616 and/or 1622 related to a beacon received from a femto node(not shown) and can disambiguate the femto node for initiating hand-inthereto.

FIG. 17 shows an example wireless communication system 1700. Thewireless communication system 1700 depicts one base station 1710 and onemobile device 1750 for sake of brevity. However, it is to be appreciatedthat system 1700 can include more than one base station and/or more thanone mobile device, wherein additional base stations and/or mobiledevices can be substantially similar or different from example basestation 1710 and mobile device 1750 described below. In addition, it isto be appreciated that base station 1710 and/or mobile device 1750 canemploy the systems (FIGS. 1-6 and 12-16) and/or methods (FIGS. 7-11)described herein to facilitate wireless communication there between. Forexample, components or functions of the systems and/or methods describedherein can be part of a memory 1732 and/or 1772 or processors 1730and/or 1770 described below, and/or can be executed by processors 1730and/or 1770 to perform the disclosed functions.

At base station 1710, traffic data for a number of data streams isprovided from a data source 1712 to a transmit (TX) data processor 1714.According to an example, each data stream can be transmitted over arespective antenna. TX data processor 1714 formats, codes, andinterleaves the traffic data stream based on a particular coding schemeselected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot datausing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) techniques.Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols can be frequencydivision multiplexed (FDM), time division multiplexed (TDM), or codedivision multiplexed (CDM). The pilot data is typically a known datapattern that is processed in a known manner and can be used at mobiledevice 1750 to estimate channel response. The multiplexed pilot andcoded data for each data stream can be modulated (e.g., symbol mapped)based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying(BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying(M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected forthat data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding,and modulation for each data stream can be determined by instructionsperformed or provided by processor 1730.

The modulation symbols for the data streams can be provided to a TX MIMOprocessor 1720, which can further process the modulation symbols (e.g.,for OFDM). TX MIMO processor 1720 then provides N_(T) modulation symbolstreams to N_(T) transmitters (TMTR) 1722 a through 1722 t. In variousembodiments, TX MIMO processor 1720 applies beamforming weights to thesymbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol isbeing transmitted.

Each transmitter 1722 receives and processes a respective symbol streamto provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g.,amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide amodulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel.Further, N_(T) modulated signals from transmitters 1722 a through 1722 tare transmitted from N_(T) antennas 1724 a through 1724 t, respectively.

At mobile device 1750, the transmitted modulated signals are received byN_(R) antennas 1752 a through 1752 r and the received signal from eachantenna 1752 is provided to a respective receiver (RCVR) 1754 a through1754 r. Each receiver 1754 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, anddownconverts) a respective signal, digitizes the conditioned signal toprovide samples, and further processes the samples to provide acorresponding “received” symbol stream.

An RX data processor 1760 can receive and process the N_(R) receivedsymbol streams from N_(R) receivers 1754 based on a particular receiverprocessing technique to provide N_(T) “detected” symbol streams. RX dataprocessor 1760 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode each detectedsymbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. Theprocessing by RX data processor 1760 is complementary to that performedby TX MIMO processor 1720 and TX data processor 1714 at base station1710.

The reverse link message can comprise various types of informationregarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. Thereverse link message can be processed by a TX data processor 1738, whichalso receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a datasource 1736, modulated by a modulator 1780, conditioned by transmitters1754 a through 1754 r, and transmitted back to base station 1710.

At base station 1710, the modulated signals from mobile device 1750 arereceived by antennas 1724, conditioned by receivers 1722, demodulated bya demodulator 1740, and processed by a RX data processor 1742 to extractthe reverse link message transmitted by mobile device 1750. Further,processor 1730 can process the extracted message to determine whichprecoding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights.

Processors 1730 and 1770 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage,etc.) operation at base station 1710 and mobile device 1750,respectively. Respective processors 1730 and 1770 can be associated withmemory 1732 and 1772 that store program codes and data. Processors 1730and 1770 can report parameters related to a received beacon, determine afemto node related to the beacon, initiate hand-in to the femto node,etc.

FIG. 18 illustrates a wireless communication system 1800, configured tosupport a number of users, in which the teachings herein may beimplemented. The system 1800 provides communication for multiple cells1802, such as, for example, macro cells 1802A-1802G, with each cellbeing serviced by a corresponding access node 1804 (e.g., access nodes1804A-1804G). As shown in FIG. 18, access terminals 1806 (e.g., accessterminals 1806A-1806L) can be dispersed at various locations throughoutthe system over time. Each access terminal 1806 can communicate with oneor more access nodes 1804 on a forward link (FL) and/or a reverse link(RL) at a given moment, depending upon whether the access terminal 1806is active and whether it is in soft handoff, for example. The wirelesscommunication system 1800 can provide service over a large geographicregion.

FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary communication system 1900 where one ormore femto nodes are deployed within a network environment.Specifically, the system 1900 includes multiple femto nodes 1910A and1910B (e.g., femtocell nodes or H(e)NB) installed in a relatively smallscale network environment (e.g., in one or more user residences 1930).Each femto node 1910 can be coupled to a wide area network 1940 (e.g.,the Internet) and a mobile operator core network 1950 via a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) router, a cable modem, a wireless link, or otherconnectivity means (not shown). As will be discussed below, each femtonode 1910 can be configured to serve associated access terminals 1920(e.g., access terminal 1920A) and, optionally, alien access terminals1920 (e.g., access terminal 1920B). In other words, access to femtonodes 1910 can be restricted such that a given access terminal 1920 canbe served by a set of designated (e.g., home) femto node(s) 1910 but maynot be served by any non-designated femto nodes 1910 (e.g., a neighbor'sfemto node).

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a coverage map 2000 where severaltracking areas 2002 (or routing areas or location areas) are defined,each of which includes several macro coverage areas 2004. Here, areas ofcoverage associated with tracking areas 2002A, 2002B, and 2002C aredelineated by the wide lines and the macro coverage areas 2004 arerepresented by the hexagons. The tracking areas 2002 also include femtocoverage areas 2006. In this example, each of the femto coverage areas2006 (e.g., femto coverage area 2006C) is depicted within a macrocoverage area 2004 (e.g., macro coverage area 2004B). It should beappreciated, however, that a femto coverage area 2006 may not lieentirely within a macro coverage area 2004. In practice, a large numberof femto coverage areas 2006 can be defined with a given tracking area2002 or macro coverage area 2004. Also, one or more pico coverage areas(not shown) can be defined within a given tracking area 2002 or macrocoverage area 2004.

Referring again to FIG. 19, the owner of a femto node 1910 can subscribeto mobile service, such as, for example, 3G mobile service, offeredthrough the mobile operator core network 1950. In addition, an accessterminal 1920 can be capable of operating both in macro environments andin smaller scale (e.g., residential) network environments. Thus, forexample, depending on the current location of the access terminal 1920,the access terminal 1920 can be served by an access node 1960 or by anyone of a set of femto nodes 1910 (e.g., the femto nodes 1910A and 1910Bthat reside within a corresponding user residence 1930). For example,when a subscriber is outside his home, he is served by a standard macrocell access node (e.g., node 1960) and when the subscriber is at home,he is served by a femto node (e.g., node 1910A). Here, it should beappreciated that a femto node 1910 can be backward compatible withexisting access terminals 1920.

A femto node 1910 can be deployed on a single frequency or, in thealternative, on multiple frequencies. Depending on the particularconfiguration, the single frequency or one or more of the multiplefrequencies can overlap with one or more frequencies used by a macrocell access node (e.g., node 1960). In some aspects, an access terminal1920 can be configured to connect to a preferred femto node (e.g., thehome femto node of the access terminal 1920) whenever such connectivityis possible. For example, whenever the access terminal 1920 is withinthe user's residence 1930, it can communicate with the home femto node1910.

In some aspects, if the access terminal 1920 operates within the mobileoperator core network 1950 but is not residing on its most preferrednetwork (e.g., as defined in a preferred roaming list), the accessterminal 1920 can continue to search for the most preferred network(e.g., femto node 1910) using a Better System Reselection (BSR), whichcan involve a periodic scanning of available systems to determinewhether better systems are currently available, and subsequent effortsto associate with such preferred systems. Using an acquisition tableentry (e.g., in a preferred roaming list), in one example, the accessterminal 1920 can limit the search for specific band and channel. Forexample, the search for the most preferred system can be repeatedperiodically. Upon discovery of a preferred femto node, such as femtonode 1910, the access terminal 1920 selects the femto node 1910 forcamping within its coverage area.

A femto node can be restricted in some aspects. For example, a givenfemto node can only provide certain services to certain accessterminals. In deployments with so-called restricted (or closed)association, a given access terminal can only be served by the macrocell mobile network and a defined set of femto nodes (e.g., the femtonodes 1910 that reside within the corresponding user residence 1930). Insome implementations, a femto node can be restricted to not provide, forat least one access terminal, at least one of: signaling, data access,registration, paging, or service.

In some aspects, a restricted femto node (which can also be referred toas a Closed Subscriber Group H(e)NB) is one that provides service to arestricted provisioned set of access terminals. This set can betemporarily or permanently extended as necessary. In some aspects, aClosed Subscriber Group (CSG) can be defined as the set of access nodes(e.g., femto nodes) that share a common access control list of accessterminals. A channel on which all femto nodes (or all restricted femtonodes) in a region operate can be referred to as a femto channel.

Various relationships can thus exist between a given femto node and agiven access terminal. For example, from the perspective of an accessterminal, an open femto node can refer to a femto node with norestricted association. A restricted femto node can refer to a femtonode that is restricted in some manner (e.g., restricted for associationand/or registration). A home femto node can refer to a femto node onwhich the access terminal is authorized to access and operate on. Aguest femto node can refer to a femto node on which an access terminalis temporarily authorized to access or operate on. An alien femto nodecan refer to a femto node on which the access terminal is not authorizedto access or operate on, except for perhaps emergency situations (e.g.,911 calls).

From a restricted femto node perspective, a home access terminal canrefer to an access terminal that authorized to access the restrictedfemto node. A guest access terminal can refer to an access terminal withtemporary access to the restricted femto node. An alien access terminalcan refer to an access terminal that does not have permission to accessthe restricted femto node, except for perhaps emergency situations, forexample, 911 calls (e.g., an access terminal that does not have thecredentials or permission to register with the restricted femto node).

For convenience, the disclosure herein describes various functionalityin the context of a femto node. It should be appreciated, however, thata pico node can provide the same or similar functionality as a femtonode, but for a larger coverage area. For example, a pico node can berestricted, a home pico node can be defined for a given access terminal,and so on.

A wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneouslysupport communication for multiple wireless access terminals. Asmentioned above, each terminal can communicate with one or more basestations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forwardlink (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the basestations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers tothe communication link from the terminals to the base stations. Thiscommunication link can be established via a single-in-single-out system,a MIMO system, or some other type of system.

The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, components,and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor,a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. Additionally, at least oneprocessor may comprise one or more modules operable to perform one ormore of the steps and/or actions described above. An exemplary storagemedium may be coupled to the processor, such that the processor can readinformation from, and write information to, the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor.Further, in some aspects, the processor and the storage medium mayreside in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC may reside in a user terminal.In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside asdiscrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more aspects, the functions, methods, or algorithms describedmay be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combinationthereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored ortransmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readablemedium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM,EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used tocarry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, substantiallyany connection may be termed a computer-readable medium. For example, ifsoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs usually reproduce data optically withlasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within thescope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure discusses illustrative aspects and/orembodiments, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the describedaspects and/or embodiments as defined by the appended claims.Furthermore, although elements of the described aspects and/orembodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural iscontemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.Additionally, all or a portion of any aspect and/or embodiment may beutilized with all or a portion of any other aspect and/or embodiment,unless stated otherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for indicating proximity to a femtonode, comprising: receiving a beacon from a femto node comprising aclosed subscriber group (CSG) identifier at a device; determiningwhether the device is a member of the femto node based in part on theCSG identifier; and indicating entering a proximity to the femto node toa radio network controller (RNC) based at least in part on thedetermining whether the device is a member of the femto node based inpart on the CSG identifier and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurementof the beacon, wherein the indicating comprises transmitting ameasurement report to the RNC that includes a system information elementcorresponding to the proximity, the SNR measurement of the beacon, and atiming difference between the femto node and at least one macro node. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing a subsequentmeasurement of a subsequent transmission of the beacon; determining thesubsequent measurement is below a threshold signal quality; andindicating exiting the: proximity of the femto node to the RNC based onthe determining the subsequent: measurement is below the thresholdsignal quality.
 3. An apparatus for proximity indication, comprising:means for receiving a beacon from a femto node comprising a closedsubscriber group (CSG) identifier; means for determining whether theapparatus is a member of the femto node based in part on the CSGidentifier; and means for indicating entering a proximity to the femtonode to a radio network controller (RNC) based at least in part ondetermining whether the apparatus is a member of the femto node based inpart on the CSG identifier and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurementof the beacon, wherein the means for indicating is configured totransmit a measurement report to the RNC that includes a systeminformation element corresponding to the proximity, the SNR measurementof the beacon, and a timing difference between the femto node and atleast one it macro node.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the meansfor determining is further configured to determine a subsequentmeasurement of a subsequent transmission of the beacon is below athreshold signal quality, and the means for indicating is furtherconfigured to indicate exiting the proximity of the femto node to theRNC based on the determining the subsequent measurement is below thethreshold signal quality.
 5. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring computer executable code for proximity indication, comprisingcode to: receive a beacon from a femto node comprising a closedsubscriber group (CSG) identifier at a device; determine whether thedevice is a member of the femto node based in part on the CSGidentifier; and indicate entering a proximity to the femto node to aradio network controller (RNC) based at least in part on the determiningand a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurement of the beacon, wherein thecode to indicate is configured to transmit a measurement report to theRNC that includes a system information element corresponding to theproximity, the SNR measurement of the beacon, and a timing differencebetween the femto node and at least one macro node.
 6. Thenon-transitory computer-readable of claim 5, further comprising code to:perform a subsequent measurement of a subsequent transmission of thebeacon; determine the subsequent measurement is below a threshold signalquality; and indicate exiting the proximity of the femto node to the RNCbased on the determining the subsequent measurement is below thethreshold signal quality.
 7. An apparatus for proximity indication,comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memoryand configured to: receive a beacon from a femto node comprising aclosed subscriber group (CSG) identifier; determine Whether theapparatus is a member of the femto node based in part on the CSGidentifier; and indicate entering a proximity to the femto node to aradio network controller (RNC) based at least in part on determiningwhether the apparatus is a Member of the femto node based in part on theCSG identifier and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurement of thebeacon, wherein the at least one processor is configured to indicate bytransmitting a measurement report to the RNC that includes a systeminformation element corresponding to the proximity, the SNR measurementof the beacon and a timing difference between the femto node and atleast one macro node.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at leastone processor is further configured to: perform a subsequent measurementof a subsequent transmission of the beacon; determine the subsequentmeasurement is below a threshold signal quality; and indicate exitingthe proximity of the femto node to the RNC based on the determining thesubsequent measurement is below the threshold signal quality.